A Shot of "Hot Coffee": Justice is Served

Stella Liebeck was ridiculed, characatured, lambasted and put down as the poster child for "frivolous" lawsuits when she sued McDonald’s for a cup of hot coffee that spilled in her lap. Cruel radio talk show hosts called her greedy.

With the release of the movie Hot Coffee, Ms. Liebeck tells the real story: She sustained third degree burns and had to undergo painful skin grafts. Worse yet, she was not alone. More than 700 people had reported they had been burned by McDonald’s hot coffee in the 10 years prior to Ms. Liebeck’s suit.

The legacy of Ms. Liebeck’s case was in many ways a victory for Big Business bent on frightening away injured people from using the civil justice system to hold corporations accountable for creating dangerous products that cost people serious, avoidable injuries.

Hot Coffee, which is being heralded as a powerful piece of advocacy journalism, promises to change that narrative.